


and so we ran

by SaraJaye



Category: Shoujo Kakumei Utena | Revolutionary Girl Utena
Genre: Danger, Families of Choice, Fear, Gen, Implications of child rape, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Parent/Child Incest, Running Away
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-03
Updated: 2015-05-03
Packaged: 2018-03-28 21:13:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3869986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaraJaye/pseuds/SaraJaye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if the Kiryuu and Kaoru siblings dared to escape their troubled homes?</p>
            </blockquote>





	and so we ran

{wild animals}

The recital was the last straw.

Everything went downhill after Mother left. Father had never been the most understanding person but he'd become even harsher in the days since Mother left him; when she'd been there he'd at least tried to pretend he cared but now he didn't even bother. It was all about his appearance, his reputation. A bad grade, a scuffed shoe, a skinned knee, anything less than perfect was a black mark on _his_ record.

It wasn't Miki's fault he got sick that night, but Father still acted like it was ruining _his_ day. _You'll just go on stage anyway,_ he and the teacher had said, even knowing she was nowhere near ready to play alone. Stage fright kicked in, she ran and hid and all they could do was groan about how their night was spoiled.

So here they were. Kozue's once-pristine school clothes and coat sported a few tears, her shoes were filthy and she had leaves in her hair. She knew she didn't smell too good after three days without a proper bath.

But she was free. _Free._

"Are you holding up all right, Miki?" Her brother, a few steps behind her, brushed some dirt off his face and smiled. He'd recovered well from his illness, but it was second nature for her to worry.

"Of course I am," he said. "But I'm sure you could use something to eat, it's been a couple hours." They'd packed a satchel full of whatever they could take from the kitchens that wouldn't spoil, but at the last minute had taken some of the fancy snacks Father liked to ply his guests with. Only enough for one meal, since caviar and truffles didn't last long, but as they sat down to enjoy it she felt a deep sense of satisfaction. Even the foods she normally didn't care for tasted good, knowing they'd put a dent to big to recover from in their father's "perfect" reputation.

 

{all that glitters is not gold}

He didn't remember his real parents, only fake smiles as they handed him and his baby sister over to their new family. _Such lovely long hair,_ the man said, Touga immediately had a bad feeling but kept his mouth shut. _Any child would love to live in such luxury, don't you realize how lucky you are?_

When he was barely ten, Mr. Kiryuu summoned him to his study for a "special visit". He buried the memory under beautiful women and his growing popularity at school but at night it haunted him; the man's voice purring in his ear, those hands all over him, the burning shame.

His wife did nothing. She encouraged every "special visit" from there on out and he didn't dare speak a word to anyone, pretending every bruise or kiss mark was from fencing practice. Everyone just thought he was clumsy or overdid it.

He wasn't sure how he and Nanami ended up running down the street that night, their few precious belongings in a tattered suitcase. Everything up until then had been a blur, all he remembered was blinding pain and Nanami's tears and that horrible smile looking down at him.

"Where are we going?" Nanami asked, still sniffling. Touga shifted the suitcase to stop it banging against his leg, squinting into the darkness. The row of glitzy houses was coming to an end, their next stop was one of the lesser streets.

"I don't know," he admitted. Saionji's house was out of the question, his parents would just tell the Kiryuus and have them sent home. They'd taken a little money with them but couldn't afford a motel, and Nanami refused to sleep on the ground in the woods.

But anywhere was better than the house that had never been their home.

 

{converging harmonies}

They wound up in the city one night, two kids in dirty clothes carrying a near-empty pack. Only two pears and the ends of a loaf of bread left, almost no money. Kozue had been able to charm a few free meals out of sympathetic rich boys last week and as good as the food had been, Miki didn't want this to become a regular occurence.

_And the city, it corrupts people,_ he'd heard. Those boys hadn't asked for anything in return, but if Kozue tried her tricks in the city, who knew what the men would want?

He found her in a noodle shop, flirting with a tall red-haired man while a young blonde girl glared daggers at them.

"Excuse me." The redhead turned around, Miki tried not to seem as intimidated as he was. "My sister and I-"

" _Your_ sister was coming on to _my_ brother!" the blonde snapped.

"You'll have to excuse her," the redhead said. "I'm all she has."

In the end, the four of them found a table near the back. Two pairs of runaway siblings, neither wanting to talk about what had brought them to the city but willing to give their names and share the bill for four bowls of udon.

"I think we should all travel together," Miki said. "As it is, we've shared a meal and together we have more money than we would separately." Surprisingly, no one argued. Maybe they were too tired to bother, maybe deep down they knew they needed each other.

 

{the places you have come to fear}

Big brother was all she's ever had and she wasn't not sure about these strangers. At least they were her age, and with another girl along it'd be like she had a sister. She always wondered what that was like even if she still wasn't sure she wanted it.

"We're all like wild animals," the girl said, but that just scared her more. Wild animals could get eaten by bigger animals, or die of starvation. _Big brother won't let anything happen to me!_ she would tell herself during the day, but at night Nanami would move her sleeping pallet closer to Kozue's and toss and turn.

Miki handled the money and kept their spirits up by singing. Big brother handled the maps and decided the best places to go. Kozue and Nanami would try to be cute for the grown-ups to get lower prices on things.

"What if the Kiryuus come after us?" she asked one night. "Or your dad, Miki and Kozue?"

"Let them come," Miki said, surprisingly sharp. "They can chase us all they want but we're not going back!"

"It won't do any good, anyway," Kozue added. "Daddy's reputation's going to be shot." She looked happy. Nanami wished she felt brave enough to smile at the idea of the Kiryuus losing their good standing, but they were really powerful. Even Touga seemed scared of them and she didn't know why, he was never scared of anything.

"They'll never find us," he said, she could sense his voice shaking. "I won't let anything happen to any of you."

They slept in a cluster that night, clinging to their newfound sense of freedom and dreaming of the road ahead. The next day they took their first step outside the city, outside the false comfort of the area they'd known all their lives.

It was scary, but anything was better than going back.


End file.
